Hey, Get off my Strogonoff!

     

It's Strogonoff Time!

       Stroganoff is basically the same word in Portuguese, only it  is spelled "strogonoff." It is not eaten with egg noodles, and really is made totally different from the stroganoff you are probably familiar with. If you live in Brazil, you have most likely tried this dish, as it is extremely popular.
      Because it is rare or impossible to find a can of cream of mushroom soup in Brazil, or pretty much most of what goes into a typical stroganoff recipe,the same taste has to be created using different ingredients. In the states, for example, my mother always uses cream of mushroom soup, ranch dressing mix (not ranch dressing!), mushrooms, and sour cream... among a few other things. Well in Brazil you really can't find any of those things! Most mushrooms you can find are these weird little mushy conserved mushrooms. They are squeaky when you eat them, and they really taste nothing like a mushroom. I mean they're basically pickled!
      Brazilians use some very interesting ingredients to make this dish, and though it wouldn't seem like, they end up creating a taste very similar to what I knew back in the states. This strogonoff is not eaten over egg noodles, but is instead served with/over white rice and potato stix. Interesting isn't it? Whether you live in Brazil or elsewhere, this recipe is not tricky or difficult, and it uses ingredients that most of you probably already have in your house.... especially if you live in Brazil. Also, if you live in Brazil and do not like the mushrooms here, you can sub chunks of heart of palm. Still just as yummy. The recipe I am about to share does not use onions because my husband HATES onions, so I always leave onions out of my recipes. Intead of onions I am using minced garlic and chives. Sooooo yum. So without further ado.....

What you will need:

• large skillet for frying beef
• cooking utensils
• 1 kilo or 2 pounds of cubed beef - a soft cut is best (chicken and shrimp can sub meat,too)
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions/chives (or 1-2 diced onion)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tomatoes - peeled/deseeded/diced
• 1 tbsp "molho ingles" or Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 cup mushrooms or heart of palm chunks
• 1 can of milk cream aka creme de leite

1. Melt butter in large skillet.

2. Brown meat to your desire. I like mine not totally cooked all the way through... ends up being softer in the end. 

3. Remove the meat and set it aside (keeping all the remaining juices and butter inside the skillet. Add you onions and sautee them. Here I omited onions and subbed green onion and garlic.

4. Return the meat and stir it into everything.

5. Add Worcestershire sauce and mushrooms. Keep everything simmering do not turn off heat. 

6. Stir everything together.

7. Add diced tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard. Mix together well.

8. Turn heat down to low and place lid on top. Leave it to simmer for 5 minutes. A good amount of juice should start to collect.

9. Remove lid and turn off heat. Once it stops simmering, add the cream little by little. Stirring it in really well before adding more. Until you have a nice, rich cream sauce.

10. Like this!

Check out the "helping hands" would ya!

11. It should look like this after the cream has cooled a little and settled. Serve this over white rice and you got yourself a delicious new way to eat Stroganoff! Throw some potato stix on the plate as a side and you have a complete traditional Brazilian dish! Good Luck!

Torta Happy!

   

If you are Spanish-literate at all, you may or may not be aware of the fact that there are two meanings for the word torta. In Mexico, it is a sandwich. In Argentina, it is a cake.
     In Brazilian Portuguese, it is nothing close to either of these; it is a breaded pie. By breaded pie I mean something along the lines of what you know as a "pot pie" in the states, only the breading is something rather simple thrown together in a blender. It is categorized in a group of food items known as "salgados". This translates into "salties" more or less in english. Salgados are more known as being small baked or fried foods that are served in between meals as a snack, and Brazil thrives off of them. They are a solid part of Brazilian culture. Salgados are often found served by street vendors, at farmer's markets, and in any bakery or deli. Most of the time you can find people eating salgados for breakfast or in between breakfast and lunch. They're also eaten from street vendors at night as a nice little night time snack. Tortas are usually served at delis and bakeries. They're really filling, so a lof of people will actually just have a slice for lunch. Generally people eat tortas with ketchup, mustard, mayo, or hot sauce. Or all of the above. There are several different kinds of tortas, but the most popular tortas are made with either beef (shredded or ground), chicken, sardines, or cheese. My favorites are both chicken and beef, but my boys love beef the most so I am constantly making beef. And this is what I will be showing you how to make.

What you will need:

• Frying Pan for beef.
• large deep dish pie pan or medium to large deep rectangular pan
• spoon, fork, knife, serving utensils
• large mixing bowl
• blender
  Filling
• 1 lb. or 1/2 kilo of ground beef
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. crushed garlic
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6-8 slices mozzarella cheese-- or whatever cheese covering you prefer (traditionally here either mozzarella or catupiry is used)
• -optional- diced onions, chopped green onions, olives, corn, diced tomatoes (really anything you like inside of cooked ground beef. I generally utilize whatever I have handy in the fridge at the moment.)
  Breading
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 whipped egg white (for topping finished raw pie with)
• -optional- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and/or 1/4 cup mayonnaise

Ok, here we go:

1. Put the raw ground beef into frying pan with the 4 tbsp. of oil and start cooking on medium to high heat.

2. Add all of your additions that you want for your ground beef along with minced garlic, salt, and pepper to your liking. For this instance I used shredded carrots, and green olives. 

3. Stir it all together and leave the meat to brown. While that is cooking, start your breading. Keep an eye on your meat as it is cooking. When it has completely browned, turn off the oven. The ground beef should not have much juice or moisture left in it. If it does, it's not done.

4. First put the milk, eggs, and oil into the blender on medium to high speed and leave to blend for a good 3 or 4 minutes. Don't turn it off yet. If you are adding parmesan cheese or mayo, add that now.

5. With the blender still going, slowly add your 1 1/2 cups of flour until you have used it all up, then add your baking powder and salt. Blend until it's all combined and stop.

6. If throughout the blending process the dough starts to get too stiff or hard to blend, add a little milk. 

7. Preheat oven to about 190 C or 375 F.

8. Take your deep dish or large rectangular baking pan and coat with margarine or butter. Coat that with flour.

9. First pour half of the contents in the blender into the baking dish. 

10. Next, layer on the cooked ground beef mix.

11. After that, spread mozzarella cheese over beef.

12. Top that with the leftover dough mix from blender. Smooth over with a spoon.

Note the small face resting on the counter, watching my every move. He's in training!

13. Separate the egg white from an egg and whip the egg white up until frothy. 

Top the torta with the egg white and gently spread it over the top.

14. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and bubbly looking.

15. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. 

16. ENJOY!

This is super yummy with ketchup and mustard (I think it tastes like a cheeseburger pie). It is also good with flavored mayo or hot sauce. I loooove mine with hot sauce! It's also super filling so it's a great meal idea for a family of 4-6 with a side salad or something like that.

New Yummy Discoveries!

THIS JUST IN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so today, I had ingredients in my fridge to make Brigadeiro. However, no sprinkles to roll them into fun bite-sized balls. Normally in this situation, you just go ahead and make the Brigadeiro and let everyone eat it with a spoon... or put it on fruit or what have you. I had already made a batch of Cheese Bread though so after the Brigadeiro cooled, I cut a piece of cheese bread in half and slathered brigadeiro onto both halves. Let me tell you. WOW. I already knew Doce de Leite was good on Pao de Queijo, but I had NO idea how yummy chocolate was. 

   This is a must try. If you would like to make both of these recipes... follow the links I have in this post to direct you to the right recipes. Make the cheese bread and brigadeiro, and eat them TOGETHER. You will discover a new taste you've never had before... and it will be your new favorite snack. WOW!

And amidst all of the enjoyment of my new found delicacy, I forgot to take a picture. :(

And Now to Teach You, About the Cashew!

                             Whatchu Know About Caju?!?!?!

      Brazil is a land of many wonderous and delicious fruits. To try and introduce even a fourth of them to you, I would need about a month's worth of blog time. Maybe in the future I'll follow up on that actually, but for now, no. I want to reintroduce something to you that you are already aware of, but might not know everything about. The cashew fruit.
      Called Caju (kah-joo) in Portuguese, it is made of more than you might realize. Yes, cashew is not just a nut. It also consists of a fruit! When I lived in the United States and my husband first tried to explain to me that a cashew nut came from a fruit, I refused to believe him. He kept googling it as Caju and showing me pictures of it, but I thought there had to be some kind of language barrier going on and that he was mistaking it for something else. But alas, within the first few months of living in Brazil I discovered that he had been right all along! Sure enough, while driving on the highway Northeast through the state of Goias, we passed tree after tree containing yellow, orange, and red cashew fruits. We stopped at a few points and got out of the car to pick some. One of the things I love most about Brazil is the fact that you can eat the best fruits mother nature has to offer, completely free! Thousands of different fruit tress are growing at any given time all over the city and they are as easy to consume as picking them off the tree and rinsing them off.

       Caju, or Cashew fruit comes in tiny to jumbo sizes, depending on the sub species, and it is extremely delicate. I always try to describe it's texture and taste to my friends and family, but there is no taste or texture of anything in the world I can compare it to, so it's difficult. The skin is waxy, yet so delicate and soft that if it falls to the ground from the tree, it's ruined. If you don't handle it with the gentlest of care, it tears and tons of juice comes out. Yet at the same time, it is so fibrous, that you cannot take a clean bite out of it without smashing it as you try to remove the piece you bit into. The best way to eat them without destroying your clothing is to cut it into little slices first, then eat that way. The juice is a cloudy white to yellow color and if it gets onto your clothes, it most likely will leave a dark stain that does not come out. The juice is kind of a citrus, as it is has 300 times more vitamin C than an orange. Super healthy. It also has less calories than an orange. Just about 40 calories a fruit. While an orange has at least 75 calories. The taste of the just is almost like a sweeter, milkier version of grapefruit, maybe mixed with orange juice. It's got a bite to it also. I love it.
       The actual cashew nut is what the fruit starts off as. We now have a Caju tree in the back yard so I have been able to watch the growing process. They start as a bud. The bud grows into a teeny tiny green cashew nut,and then the fruit itself begins to form as a bulbous hat on top of the nut. The fruit starts off green then turns either orange, yellow, or red as it fills up with water.

There are tons of different sub species of this fruit so sometimes you can find tiny little mini cashew fruits and nuts, while other times, HUGE juicy ones. The nuts are NOT to be eaten fresh off the tree. They actually contain a toxin which will make you extremely sick, though your experience tasting it would be so horrid that I'm pretty sure you would spit it out before swallowing it. The fresh nuts off of a cashew tree must undergo a lot of preparation before they can even be considered a "raw" nut, so you get the idea. My husband and I tried to save up the nuts from our fruits last year and roast them according to instructions we found online. Yeah, didn't work out for us. I will leave that to the professionals. It was a messy, nasty, and stinky experience. If you ever wonder what makes cashews so expensive, just know that you are better off just paying the high price for them yourself already prepared than if you were to attempt it on your own.
     If you live in Brazil, then I demand you try these immediately if you have not already. Well, actually, you can only try them when they are in season. Unless you're getting them from a greenhouse. They generally are available June through September, and I don't think they even grow in most regions of Brazil. I think you can only find them in the mid eastern areas of Brazil. They are extremely hard to ship as they are so delicate. They also do not last very long once you pick them because of their extremely high water content. Keeping them in the fridge can help, though. If you live in Brazil, try asking around to find out about who you could get these from if they are not a local option. If you can't eat one, you can always drink one!

This Collared Lizard was napping on a full belly after engorging himself on a Caju fruit that had gotten trapped in our tree in the backyard. 

      No matter where you live in the world, you can still find cashew fruit or fruit pulp. If you don't live in Brazil and are fortunate enough to have a Brazilian store nearby, excellent! You can drop inn and ask them for Cashew juice or nectar! They probably even have the pulp. With pulp you can make the delicious cremes which use condensed milk for a yummy smoothie treat. If you don't have a Brazilian store nearby, which most of you do not, try a Mexican store or International market. Even Whole Foods might carry it. If you are looking for it in English it will be called Cashew juice/nectar. I see it mostly sold in small individual serving size juice boxes. The juice is delicious, good for you, and super low in calories in comparison to other fruits of it's type. If you don't feel like venturing out for it, I found a link to a site here that you can order online from and get your cashew juice sent to your front door. So if you really want to try it, you can! It is an excellent choice for smoothies, and is really excellent for your health. Among some of the things this fruit can do is prevent colds, aid in dental health, and fight acne. It's also a nice change for those who are faithful orange juice drinkers.
     My father in law enjoys using cashew fruit slices or caju juice as a "chaser" when he's enjoying a glass of Brandy. Not my cup o tea, but I guess it's got something for everyone.

Drink Your Vitamins!

Vitaminas! (Vee-tuh-meen-uhs)

My favorite way to take in those much needed vitamins is to drink them in some yummy form. This is a compilation of a few of my favorite ways to take them in, Brazilian style! Vitaminas, which obviously means Vitamins in English, is a word used to describe a wide variety of juices and smoothies. Some use fruits, or fruits mixed with veggies. There are vitaminas that exist for the brave and hungover that contain key ingredients such as dark beer or raw quail eggs. I have never tried  a vitamina with raw quail eggs, nor do I ever plan to. I'm sure it is lovely though.

     If you live in Brazil, you can usually cruise on over to the nearest place with a blender and ask them to concoct whatever they might have on stock, usually always fresh orange juice. There is also something called a "creme" which is more of a desert than a healthy juice smoothie. It consists of a choice of frozen fruit pulp, sugar, milk, ice, and (mmmmm) condensed milk. It is blended into a creme and it is delicious! Very very high in calories though I'm sure. 

Below are a few simple recipes for some of my favorite ways to cool off and vitamin up! I have limited the recipes to things that I know can be found both in Brazil and in the states. If you do live in Brazil and have a vitamina vendor nearby, I suggest you pay them a visit and start trying the vast array of delicious ways to consume your fruit and veggies. One of the most popular vitaminas I saw consumed at a place I frequented in Goiania contained beet juice as a main ingredient. It was yummy!

Abacaxi com Hortelã/ Pineapple with Mint.

Blend - 1 cup pineapple juice - 3 ice cubes - 1-3 small mint leaves

You can strain out the crushed mint, but most people like to leave it in. It's really good!

This is by far my favorite vitamin drink in Brazil. Definitely try this one!

Vitamina de Abacate/ Avocado Smoothie

Blend - 1 cup fresh avocado - 1-2  tbsp honey or sugar (or desired amount of artificial sweetener) - 6-8 ice cubes -  1/2 cup milk or soy milk (add a little more milk if you are having trouble blending, but it should be thick) - squirt of lime (this is optional. If you don't have lime, don't worry about it!)

This is very popular here, and despite what you might think it tastes like, it is SO YUMMY!

If you cannot stomach the idea of avocado and refuse to try it, please at least sub the avocado with a cup of papaya. It is amazing it really is.

Shake de Goiabada/ Guava Paste Shake

look for this if outside of Brazil

Blend - 1 cup milk - 3 ice cubes - 1/2 cup goiabada/guava paste (guava paste can be found at any international market in the South/Latin American section. 

Heaven in a cup!

Creme de (insert favorite fruit pulp) - Fruit cream smoothie

Blend - 1/2 cup favorite frozen fruit pulp (in Brazil you can find these at really any grocery store's frozen section and there are many, MANY flavors to choose from) (In other countries you will have the best luck going to a Mexican store or international market and searching for Goya brand frozen fruit pulp of your liking) - 1/4 cup milk or soy milk, 1/4 to 1/2 cup condensed milk - 4 ice cubes (more if you want more thickness) - 1 tbsp sugar (depending on how sour the pulp is)

My favorite flavor for a creme here in Brazil is Caju (Cashew Fruit). It is, amazing. For those not in Brazil, you most likely won't be able to find this unless you live somewhere that has a Brazilian market. I highly recommend trying to get a hold of pineapple,papaya or acai pulp if you can. Those make for phenomenal cremes as well. If you are vegan and live somewhere that has soy condensed milk, you can make a creme totally dairy free by subbing soy milk and soy condensed milk-- and here is a recipe I found online to make your own soy condensed milk.

This drink is delicious --- but be forewarned, it is not easy on the hips!

Cheese Bread - Gluten Friendly Fun!

     Pão de Queijo ("poun" "dgee" "kay-dgoh")

Meaning cheese bread in English, pão de queijo is the staple starch of Brazil. Well, french bread is actually THE staple starch of Brazil, but cheese bread is a very close second. This yummy little bread is mainly eaten as breakfast and as a late afternoon snack, but can be found practically anywhere at any time of the day. They range in size, and can be very soft or crunchy on the outside. Inside reveals a delicious cheesy, chewy texture. Most prefer their cheese bread to be every warm to steaming hot; fresh out of the oven. Cheese bread is mostly consumed alone with coffee. The two compliment each other very well. I often see cheese bread cut in half and filled with things such as cheese, butter, or doce de leite. Cheese bread can be eaten with pretty much anything, as it is good with salty or sweet additions. For a quick lunch, I sometimes make mini sandwiches with them... and they are delicious. No  matter where you are staying in Brazil, always expect to see cheese bread on the table in the morning or late afternoon, as these are the times of the day when cheese bread is traditionally consumed. A lot of people will enjoy a tiny cup of Brazilian coffee with cheese bread at about 3-4pm in the afternoon, in addition to their morning routine.

        Though gluten free, each individual cheese bread can contain 80 calories and upwards depending on it's size and ingredients. This is a great option for people who are sensitive to gluten or are just trying to cut down on carbs. 

          

       There are TONS of recipes out there for cheese bread. If you live in Brazil, it seems the easiest option is to just go to your nearest deli and buy them already made; as they are quite cheap. Cheese bread mixes are also pretty easy to find in Brazil, and usually just a few ingredients need to be added in order to make them yourself. In Brazil there are also many stores that actually sell the cheesebread already made, and frozen. You just need to bring them home and pop them in the oven when you want them. But if you live in Brazil, you know these quick options don't make for the best cheese bread. It's all about making them fresh. I have found that preparing an entire batch of it is most economical, as I have the option on using only how much I need at the moment, and can freeze the leftover batch until I need it again. I can make a batch of cheese bread dough last for about 5 days, if I make about 8 a day. I make them in the morning, and there are usually leftovers which are eaten as snacks later on. There are only 3 people in my family, though. A batch of Pão de queijo usually runs me about 6 reais give or take depending on what ingredients I may or may not already have at home. This is cheaper than going to the padaria everyday and buying them already made. 

       For those who live outside of Brazil, there are still options available to you if you have an international market. When I lived in the states, I found both the complete mixes AND pre-made frozen versions at a number of international markets and Mexican markets. Rare that you will find them at Mexican markets, but sometimes the mexican markets sort of serve as a link to the central and south american world for their community, so it's important to check them out. If you are looking in an international market, check for the brand Yoki for your complete mix. You will only need to add milk,oil, and eggs, then follow the directions as listed on the package. I bought the pre-made frozen kind from an international market in St. Louis, once for Thanksgiving, and they turned out horrible. I don't recommend using those if you are not in Brazil. They are probably pretty old and they don't seem to react pleasantly when baking. The ones I bought barely rose, and ended up being super hard. Not how they're supposed to turn out! For those who are interested in making their own cheese bread, you will need to make a trip to either an international market, or speciality store, to buy what is called manioc starch. This is the flour derived from Mandioca. I know you can also find this at Whole Foods Market if you have one. 

       If buying flour in Brazil, you will see a lot of option before you in the store regarding mandioca flour. This is because they use mandioca for every kind of starch imaginable. If you try to look to much into it, you will confuse yourself. I have seen cheese bread recipes using all kinds of things from fecula de mandioca, polvilho doce, polvilho doce azedo, and polvilho doce granulado (usually caseiro). I usually end up buying the polvilho doce granulado caseiro because it was the first kind I ever bought when trying to make it on my own and it had an easy to follow recipe on the back. What you use is up to you, but I will tell you that most people use polvilho doce and when you use this kind, you add less ingredients. The recipe I am going to give on here will be for polvilho doce granulado caseiro, so if you want to follow my recipe exactly, get that kind.

So enough of my ramblings. Here is the recipe.

What you will need:

• medium sauce pan
• large bowl
• large spoon, preferably wooden
• 6 cups of polvilho doce(granulado caseiro is what I'm using) or if not in Brazil, Manioc Starch or Tapioca Flour/Starch.
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 3-5 eggs (depending on initial texture and your preference)
• 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• baking sheet
• oil for coating hands

To make cheese bread:

1. Heat oil, milk, and salt in medium pan over medium heat (stir occasionally).

 Bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

2. Add polvilho doce/tapioca flour to large bowl. As soon as you remove the milk/oil/salt from the heat, add to the bowl of flour and mix well until totally blended into each other.

It may be coarse to clumpy:

Leave to sit until it is has cooled enough to touch it. (You will be sticking your hands into it in a minute)

3. Preheat oven to 180-200 Celsius (about 400 Fahrenheit)

4. Once the mix is cool enough to touch, you can add 3 eggs and your parmesan cheese.

 Start off mixing it into the mix with a large spoon, but once it is too hard to move the spoon around, you'll need to get in there with your hands and mix it well with your hands.

 It is going to stick to your hands and it is going to be messy. Don't think it's not right if it starts sticking to your hands, because this is how it should act. The final result needs to resemble mashed potatoes. It should not be too firm that it resembles raw bread or pastry dough, but it should not be so runny that you cannot form a ball with it.

5. If it not resembling what it should, add another egg, and/or splash in a little more milk and oil. If it seems too runny, add in a little extra polvilho/tapioca flour. Once it is too wet to be a firm dough, yet not too wet to pick up and form a clump with oiled hands; it's ready.

6. Get out your baking sheet.No need to coat or line your baking sheet. 

7. Coat hands well with oil first. Keep it handy as you will need to reapply often depending on how sticky your batch is. This should not be like rolling bread rolls. This should not feel anything like raw bread dough. Like I said, it should look and feel more like mashed potatoes. Sometimes, when I'm not trying to be pretty about it, I just take the mix out by spoonfuls and plop it onto the baking sheet. It stills finds a way to form a ball when it cooks!

8. Take out a small clump and try to see if you can roll it into a ball. If you can't it's ok, clump it as best you can together and place on baking sheet. Allow at least 1/4 to 1/2 inches between your cheese breads. They will rise but if they do touch one another they will easily come apart individually. Once you have what you want on your baking sheet, place in the oven on middle rack.

These, for example, did not want to form perfect balls so I just ended up plopping them onto a tray. But depending on how you made your mix, they may form perfect balls when you take them out of the bowl and roll them.

9. Let cook for about 20-30 minutes. You will smell them when they're ready. To me they smell like cheez-its when they're ready. They should start to puff up and most of the time they will crack open... this is normal. They should look a little golden and crispy on the outside when they're ready. I usually take one out and open it before I take them all out, just to make sure it's done in the middle.

10. Let them cool, but not too long, they're absolutely delicious when they're hot.

11. If there is remaining mix leftover, you can seal it up and keep it stored in the freezer until you want to make them again, then just let them thaw until pliable and throw however much you want into the oven.

13. Enjoy!

* You can also fill them with just about anything you like either before or after you bake them. A lot of people like to put their favorite cheese inside of the raw cheese breads. You need to make sure that whatever you are putting into the middle is totally covered by the dough. You can also stick a caramel candy or chocolate chips in the middle. Jelly is another really good one. Basically anything like I said. 

* After they come out of the oven, you can slather on butter, cheese spread, jelly, doce de leite, caramel, nutella, etc. It's all really delicious. It's very popular in Brazil for people to eat their cheese bread with doce de leite as a snack. SO GOOD!  You can even bring something different to a party and make finger sandwiches out of them..

Wow all this talk of cheese bread has made me hungry, I'm going to go grab a leftover from breakfast right now!